There once was a cow who was stricken
With the need to make us eat more chicken
But one fateful day
The cow met Bobby Flay
And now she thinks beef’s finger-lickin’!

#2 – We felt that Karen captured the soul of Bobby’s burger outlook:

“A burgers just a burger” you’ll say
Until you’ve found Bobby Flay.
The meat you’ll be grilling
And the fixins’ make them thrilling
“A burgers just a burger? – Not Today!”

#3 – Ah, the Sherwood family. Their full-family participation (mother, father and daughter) really impressed us. Here are four of the twenty limericks they submitted, starting with Sherwood Father, Terry, after he apparently realized his wife was spending all day coming up with limericks for our contest:

There once was a blogger named Rose,
Who obsessively tried to compose,
Five limericks a day
About Bobby Flay,
Will she win only Food Network knows!
-Terry

My husband thinks he’s the grill master,
But Bobby Flay cooks so much faster.
He grills meat with heat
And his burgers are treats.
My spouse is becoming a true bastard.
-Rose

There once was a husband and wife
Who sat up all night in strife.
With no time to play,
It was limericks All Day!
Obviously, they had no life.
– Laira (Sherwood Daughter)

Thank you FN for all of the fun.
We’ve played the game and had a good run.
It’s Bobby’s last wish
That we should finish.
Flay’s burgers have certainly won!
– Terry and Rose

*****

Hope everyone had as much fun writing these limericks as we did reading them. Should we do more contests like this? Shout out your suggestions!

In promos, sometimes our chefs share the spotlight with surprising co-stars: the graphics. The Viva Daisy! spot is no exception, as we’re hoping you’ve already seen on-air. I casually stalked Senior Designer Christopher Clarke and Writer/Producer Steve Tardio paparazzi-style from start to finish as they collaborated and created this promotional piece. Now I am excited to share my roomy front-row seat with you…

Christopher and Steve first brainstorm graphics ideas while reading over the script. The overall concept they developed highlights Daisy’s “spice” and “flourish” through the dynamic movement of the camera, as it twists and turns through Daisy’s world. Christopher creates the graphics portion of the promo, and Steve pulls show footage from Viva Daisy! to incorporate into the spot.

And, featured below, food writer Alan Sytsma tours the set of Guy’s Bit Bite with Guy Fieri himself. Get the scoop on Guy’s custom kitchen, the rock-and-roll toys and all that California, hot rod style.

We recently spotted Bobby Flay in the Food Network kitchens shooting Throwdown. You know the beginning of each episode where he trains with his sous chefs, Miriam and Stephanie? Well, we caught them in the midst of culinary boot camp for an upcoming Throwdown and managed to snap a couple pics for your guessing pleasure. Since Bobby hasn’t surprised his next suspect yet with a Throwdown, we can’t disclose what’s behind the blurred circles. However, we would love to hear your theories on The FN Dish! What dish hasn’t made it on the show that you think is worth “throwing down”? Here’s a list of past Throwdown dishes to help you out.

Am just back from New Orleans, where I spent the last couple days as a guest of Tales of the Cocktail, the annual cocktail conference that brings together bartenders, drink historians, liquor companies, and cocktail aficionados for a 6-day extravaganza that I heard referred to more than once as “spring break for bartenders.” As can be imagined, morning seminars were slightly more sparsely-attended than evening ones, and were accompanied by no small amount of hair of the dog.

I was down from Friday through Sunday, and spent the majority of my time geeking out on cocktail history, which was to be had in abundance – presentations on that front ranged from a roundup of forgotten 19th-century bartenders to a discussion on how best to resurrect historical cocktails, as well as a threatened (but not performed) experiment to see whether navy gin (thus named because it’s high enough proof that, if you spill it on gunpowder, the gunpowder can still be lit, making it a good thing to have on ships) does in fact live up to its name.

Other highlights included the annual Spirit Awards, naming the best bars, products, and bartenders in the industry. It’s rare that this happens in any field, but frankly, I agree with almost every one of their picks, most especially the Best American Cocktail Bar (Pegu Club), Best Cocktail Writing (Dave Wondrich), American Bartender of the Year (Jim Meehan), and World’s Best Cocktail Bar (PDT, where Jim Meehan is not-coincidentally the heart and soul behind the bar). Best New Product was Bols Genever – I’m always happy to see more gin, and traditional gin at that, hitting the market, and the Bols was featured in one of my favorite drinks of the conference, the Genever Collins, demonstrated at a feisty panel, where, among other notable quotes, punch was referred to (in contrast to the austerity of a martini) as “the extravagant drag queen of the gin cocktail world.”

Brief outtakes from other moments: Phil Greene demonstrating the proper form for an airborne absinthe wash (performed pre-Sazerac, and while wearing a rain poncho to protect his suit); a raucous limoncello demo with Danny DeVito and John Besh, broadcast live on New Orleans’ legendary Chef and the Fatman radio show; a fake-mustache-involving*, only-somewhat-successful attempt at a Harry Johnson-style stacked glass pour; a homemade bitters contest and tasting, with more than one participant copping to having procured the necessary herbs at “the hippie herb store;” a short history of Bourbon street’s burlesque bars, presented in part by two former dancers now in their 80s (Wild Cherry and Evangeline the Oyster Girl); and a really remarkable, The Game-style presentation, the last of the conference, about how best as a bartender to manipulate your guests into doing what you want them to.

All told, Tales was a fascinating experience, and a highly-recommended one — and, even though I’ll probably spend the next week slowly sipping water while simultaneously avoiding bright lights and sudden noises, it was worth every sip.

Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

*Mustaches were a recurring theme at the conference, both in the context of historical bartenders (that they all had them) and modern bartenders (them too) – but honestly, I think I saw just as many Hawaiian shirts as I did mustaches. I’m wondering whether Tales 2109 will involve people ritualistically, only semi-ironically putting on Hawaiian shirts the same way this year’s non-mustachioed presenters did mustaches.